Personal Care and Service · Holland code RSC
Skincare Specialists
Provide skincare treatments to face and body to enhance an individual's appearance. Includes electrologists and laser hair removal specialists.
Also called: Aesthetician, Esthetician, Medical Esthetician, Skincare Specialist, Clinical Esthetician, Electrologist, Facialist, Skin Therapist.
O*NET 39-5094.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $45,330
- Middle half earn $36,040 to $59,700. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 39% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- +7% · Much faster than average
- 97,400 jobs in 2024, projected 103,900. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Skincare specialists".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Sterilize equipment and clean work areas.
- Cleanse clients' skin with water, creams, or lotions.
- Demonstrate how to clean and care for skin properly and recommend skin-care regimens.
- Determine which products or colors will improve clients' skin quality and appearance.
- Keep records of client needs and preferences and the services provided.
- Treat the facial skin to maintain and improve its appearance, using specialized techniques and products, such as peels and masks.
- Examine clients' skin, using magnifying lamps or visors when necessary, to evaluate skin condition and appearance.
- Collaborate with plastic surgeons and dermatologists to provide patients with preoperative and postoperative skin care.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Speaking3.8 / 5
- Active Listening3.5 / 5
- Monitoring3.3 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
- Active Learning3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.3 / 5
- Sales and Marketing3.7 / 5
- Administration and Management3.6 / 5
- Education and Training3.6 / 5
- English Language3.5 / 5
- Administrative3.4 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic75
- Investigative17
- Artistic33
- Social53
- Enterprising35
- Conventional40
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- aesthetician · DE Kosmetiker/Kosmetikerin · FR esthéticien/esthéticienne
- hair removal technician · DE Epilator/Epilatorin · FR épileur/épileuse
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Beauticians and related occupations (6222)90,100 employed
- Other elementary services occupations n.e.c. (9269)45,000 employed
- Design occupations n.e.c. (3429)39,100 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Japan
Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “美容サービス・浴場従事者（美容師を除く）”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.
- Median monthly pay
- ¥254,100
- Middle half earn ¥205,300 to ¥300,200 a month.
- Workers in the category
- 25,240
- Regular employees in firms of ten or more.
Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Service and sales workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €32,957 |
| Sweden | €32,596 |
| Netherlands | €29,198 |
| Austria | €29,068 |
| Germany | €27,471 |
| Ireland | €26,978 |
| Italy | €24,995 |
| France | €24,971 |
| Spain | €18,303 |
| Portugal | €10,656 |
| Poland | €7,579 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.26. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (39-5094).
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